Incomplete Happiness
by Schizophasia
Summary: Where Alphonse is concerned, even the most inconsequential things come back to restoring his brother’s body. Warning: Mother Nature is unseasonably cold. Rated for language.


**Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist. I am not making money off of my procrastination abilities. This should have been up here forty-five days ago.**

"Aw, shit," Ed groaned. Winry looked up, and asked what his problem was this time.

"It's snowing."

Edward hated snow. For one thing, snow was always accompanied by cold weather. Extreme cold and metal limbs did not agree very well. Ed shuddered just remembering his journey in the North, when he was still trying to find a way to reclaim his brother's body from the Gate.

Alphonse was oblivious to his irritation with the less-than-conventional weather patterns. In fact, he was rather enjoying it. Not Ed's anger, the snow. It was really too warm for snow in Risembool, and Al was currently indulging himself (rather foolishly) in the novelty.

_What sort of sane person ENJOYS cold weather?_ Ed grouched to himself. The answer was obvious. Al enjoyed everything with his newly returned senses.

Of course, Alphonse didn't have to worry about a hunk of metal attached to him that would freeze him to death. Yes, extreme weather conditions – hot or cold – were pure hell where automail was concerned.

Winry, naturally, was aware of this. "So the great Fullmetal Alchemist does have a weakness after all," she teased. "He can't stand a little cold weather."

"Winry…" Ed threatened halfheartedly, overlooking her implication that he was still the military's dog. He wasn't, and she knew it.

Alphonse came in then, dripping all over the floor. Winry hurled her wrench at his face, shouting, "DON'T GET THE HOUSE ALL WET, YOU MORON!"

Al winced and massaged his face, but he ignored Winry. "Nii-san…" he began.

"Let me guess: there's a cat outside." Al nodded, eyes pleading. "Well, leave it there. It probably already has a home."

"Fine," Al headed back outside, having soaked the carpet for nothing. He paused, and added, "Nii-san, you should come outside instead of moping about on the couch. Enjoy yourself more."

"Al, do you want me to freeze to death?" Ed waved his right arm around like a madman.

"Oh," Al murmured. "Sorry." He turned away again, but not before Ed caught a glimpse of Al's sad, guilty expression. The one that Ed hated more than anything. The one that appeared more and more often, sometimes because of the most trivial things. The one that accompanied Al's remorse for not getting his brother's limbs back.

"Al," Ed said forcefully, not wanting his brother to spend the rest of his afternoon wallowing. "It wasn't your fault, okay?"

"But-"

"It's fine. I can live with the freaking automail. So stop worrying yourself about it."

"Nii-san-"

"I keep telling you it's fine. Winry has to earn a living somehow, why rob her of one of her best sources of income?" Winry glared at him for bringing her into the Elric's affairs. Just for the sake of griping a bit more, Ed added, "Now are you going to stand there with the door open all day? Inside or outside, I don't care, but please pick one."

Al gave him a weak smile. Before he returned to the unforgiving, frigid Mother Nature, he said softly, "I'll get your real limbs back, Nii-san. I promise."

* * *

**A/N: HOLY COW, THIS IS NEARLY AS SHORT AS _HEIDERICH_!!!I probably could have fleshed this out a bit more: it's so short. **

**Sorry if the setting doesn't make sense. I wrote this on March first; it had snowed that day for the first time in AGES. So I had to write this in honor of snow. But then I never got around to editing it, and it sat on my computer taking up space, and then I worried that the setting was inappropriate for the middle of April. Then I decided, what the heck, I'll put it up anyway, even if it is weird (If you live in the Arctic circle, it shouldn't be too annoying). Oh, and if it does snow often in Risembool, too bad. I didn't know.**

**If this infuriates anybody, my sincerest apologies. Once again, I like comments, but if you flame, I'll borrow Mustang's gloves and return the favor**.


End file.
